**T have called you friends’’—Jesus 


STORY OF THE 


By 
REV. RALPH S. CUSHMAN 


FOREWORD BY THE EDITOR 


The Story of the Geneva Church is “his- 
tory in the making.” ‘The Story is not finished. 
Neither is the “Acts of the Apostles” finished. 
Without doubt, as the Geneva Church meets 
new conditions in this “adventure,” new plans 
will develop and new tasks will be taken up. 


The core of the “adventure” is not the imme- — 


diate financial program nor the method of ad- 
ministration. It is the open and actual ac- 
knowledgment of God’s ownership and thus 


— 


the living partnership made possible by which’ 


God’s purpose is brought to pass. Such an 
adventure is possible by any church anywhere 
at any time. Only one condition is required 
—a willingness to recognize that without this 
acknowledgment and partnership no victori- 
ous program for the Kingdom is possible. 
Harvey REEvES CALKINS, 
General Secretary of the 
Christian Stewardship League. 


NoreE—This Story, in its original form, was 
prepared for the Christian Advocate at the 
request of the Editor, and appeared in that 
journal November 2, 1916. 


STORY OF THE GENEVA 
CHURCH 


In Bishop McConnell’s little book, “The Es- 
sentials of Methodism,” is “an old saint’s” def- 
inition of entire sanctification. “It consists in 
a purpose to sanctify everything one can get 
one’s hands on.” In telling the story of the 
Geneva ‘Tithers’ Association, we therefore 
venture the assertion that this is a real “ad- 
venture in entire sanctification.” 

The situation in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in Geneva, N. Y., October 1, 1915, was 
gloomy. A huge debt of $82,000, plus a con- 
siderable indebtedness left over on the cur- 
rent expenses from years back, with a budget 
to be raised for all purposes amounting to 
more than $12,000 and only a third of the sum 
in sight, in a parish of workingmen, with not 
a single person of means—all this seemed, at 
least to the new pastor, to constitute a situa- 
tion of considerable embarrassment, not to 
say peril. 


The Transformation 


That was one year ago. To-day (January, 
1917) there is a great transformation. The 
debt still exists, but everywhere, among all 
the workers of the parish, the spirit of victory 
prevails. An incident that occurred only a 
few evenings ago will illustrate the change. 
It was nearly eleven o’clock. Nine men were 

3 


sitting around the table in the minister’s study. 
They had spent two hours over the details of 
a self-denial debt-raising campaign in which 
$15,000 is to be subscribed before Christmas 
and paid during the year. The moment had 
come when those committeemen, to set the 
good example, were to make out their own 
subscription cards. The hush that accom- 
panies prayerful thinking was at length broken 
by one of the men, who began: “Brethren, I 
am going to subscribe a thousand dollars. 
This means that within three years I will have 
paid in more than $5,000 toward the indebted- 
ness of this church.” There was a pause. The 
men present, knowing that the speaker was 
a man of only moderate means, waited with 
something of surprise. He continued: “But 
I don’t want you men to think that I have any 
large resources to draw from. I have not. 
The facts are simply these: About two years 
ago my health seemed to me to be failing. 
You know my burden for this church. If my 
health failed there was no possible way by 
which I could continue to bear burdens here. 
It seemed as if I must continue. In my ex- 
tremity I got down before the Lord. I made 
a vow then and there, not that I would give 
Him one tenth of my income, for I had long 
been doing that, but I promised Him that, 
after taking out the bare support of my fam- 
ily, He should have every cent of my income, 
provided He should give me health to carry 
on my work.” He stopped. Tears were in 
the eyes of some. One man who had already 
made out his card drew it back, tore it up, and 
subscribed another and a larger sum. Every- 
one knew that here was the kind of spirit that 
4 


during a year had changed apparent defeat 
into certain victory. 


How it All Began 


Let us go back to the beginning. Three or 
four years ago some leaders of the parish 
had caught the vision of a new church build- 
ing worthy of the only Methodist. Episcopal 
Church in a community of about 20,000. In 
the face of much public skepticism a build- 
ing project was begun. ‘There were, as al- 
ways, unforeseen occurrences, the failure of 
a contractor, causing a heavy increase of ex- 
pense, but at last there was dedicated one of 
the finest church edifices in central New York, 
in the midst of unbounded opportunity for 
service and growth, but with a large debt. 
The property was valued at $150,000. After 
the accumulated building fund and all cash 
subscriptions were exhausted there still re- 
mained an indebtedness of about $82,000. 
There were pledges against this, but they had 
been made payable in installments of ten years 
and the amount which had been paid in the 
previous twelve months barely covered the 
interest on the debt. There was also the debt 
of about $700 on current expenses. Then 
there was the budget for the year, $6,200 for 
current expenses, $4,500 for interest on the 
debt, apportionments for the official benevo- 
lences $1,300, making a total of $12,000, 
requiring $230 weekly income. The discourage- 
ments grew when the results of the every- 
member canvass became known. A few more 
than four hundred subscribers pledged $74 per 
week for current expenses and some $20 more 
for benevolences, in all less than $100 a week 

5 


of income against $230 a week for outgo. 
Moreover, an almost endless list of notes on 
the church debt was coming due every month, 
with creditors becoming increasingly impa- 
tient. Surely here was a losing proposition. 
Even if it were possible to keep the holders 
of our notes and mortgages good-natured, at 
the end of ten years there was little chance 
that there would be more than enough money 
to pay the interest. One thing was evident, 
we must in some way gain the confidence of 
our creditors. 


The Light That Dawned 


The answer came from God. It came in- 
dependently to two men who prayed over 
the situation apart. It was clear and simple. 
In substance it was this: “Man’s extremity 
is God’s opportunity. Exalt the law of the 
tithe as the test of your stewardship. Bring 
ye all the tithes into the storehouse and prove 
me.” These two men found each other. Then 
followed personal conferences with other men. 
A meeting of the finance committee was held 
and by Sunday seven men had seen the vision 
and had consecrated themselves as stewards of 
God and had covenanted with the minister to 
bring all the tithes into the treasury of the 
. Lord. They had also covenanted to stand 
behind him in prayer as he preached on the 
coming Sabbath. So it was with great as- 
surance of victory that on Sunday morning, 
December 12, 1915, the preacher announced 
as his text Leviticus 27:30: “And all the tithe 
* * * ts the Lord’s.” 

The burden of the message was placed on 
the verb, just as God had placed it there that 

6 


day in the wilderness when Moses passed it 
on to the children of Israel: “The paying of 
the tithe is not a new commandment. It has 
existed from the beginning. It has always 
been foremost among God’s prescribed meth- 
ods by which men who would acknowledge 
Him as Lord of life and possessions shall give 
tangible proof of their sincerity, ‘Moses, say 
not. And all the tithe shall be, but say, all the 
tithe is the Lord’s.’ Here is the key that opens 
spiritual fountains which in turn furnish the 
source of financial victory. The teachings of 
Christ are pervaded with this obligation to 
stewardship. The tithe is the test of a stew- 
ard’s sincerity. Paul taught it. The early 
Christians practiced it. To-day the failure of 
the Church to provide adequately for the 
progress of the Kingdom, both locally and on 
the frontier battle places, is primarily the 
spiritual failure which leads church members 
to a denial of their stewardship, and thus rob 
God of the tithes which are His. ‘Bring ye 
the whole tithe into the storehouse * * * and 
prove me.’ God is especially appealing to us 
in this Geneva Church. He is appealing 
through the desperateness of our situation. 
We are facing a grave crisis. God here 
shows us the way by which defeat may be 
turned into victory. It is our only hope. 
Will you make the consecration?” 

In response to the call 125 persons came 
forward, covenanting together with the min- 
ister to bring into the Lord’s treasury from 
week to week one tenth of all their income 
in acknowledgment of their dependence upon 
God. 

7 


A Tithers’ Association Started 


On the following Monday night the officials, 
the district superintendent and the minister - 
met in conference. No action was taken to 
interfere with those who wished to continue 
under the working of the present financial 
plan, but after two hours’ discussion, “Tith- 
ing” was officially declared to be the chief 
financial system of the church and a tither’s 
covenant was adopted, which was signed by - 
thirty-six of the forty members present. A 
treasurer of the association was elected. Spe- 
cial envelopes were prepared, so that the iden- 
tity of the contributors could be concealed, 
and a campaign of education and canvass for 
members began. A thorough distribution of 
carefully selected pamphlets proved of primary 
importance. In five weeks 150 persons were 
putting their full tithe into the treasury of the 
association, where it was divided on a pro- 
rata basis ameng the various treasurers of 
the church. In May a second tithing cam- 
paign was conducted and at its close there was 
a total enrollment of 265 who had signed: 


The Covenant 


We, the undersigned members of the parish 
of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of 
Geneva, N. Y., in the presence of God, do 
covenant as follows: 

1. In acknowledgment of the Divine own- 
ership of all that we possess we do individu- 
ally covenant with God in the language of 
Jacob: “Of all that Thou shalt give me I will 
surely pay the tenth unto Thee.” 

2. Secondly, we do covenant with ourselves 
and with our God that we will bring the 
Lord’s portion, the full tenth of our income 
into the storehouse, that is as He has com- 


8 


manded, “There may be meat in My house” 
for the building of the Kingdom. 


3. We agree that this money shall be cared 
for by the Treasurer of the Tithers’ Asso- 
ciation and divided, at the discretion of the 
executive committee and the pastor, propor- 
tionately between the support of the gospel, 
the various benevolent enterprises of the 
Church and other work of the Kingdom as 
shall be agreed upon. 


4. We further agree, in that liberty which 
is in Christ, in case of unusual tithe or spe- 
cial divine leading, any individual shall deem 
it necessary that he shall direct the division 
of his tenth, that he may be permitted to do 
so by written order to the treasurer, a full 
record of such transaction to be kept in the 
books of the Association. 


5. We further agree that having entered 
into this covenant we will not be under obli- 
gation to sign any additional subscription or 
pledge for any church work or benevolence. 
Our dues to any of the authorized church or- 
ganizations to which we may belong will be 
paid by the Treasurer of the Tithers’ Asso- 
ciation out of the tithe money on written or- 
ders approved by the executive committee. 
But, in case we make additional contribu- 
tions “according as the Lord has prospered” 
us they will be regarded as free-will or thank 
offerings. 


6. That for any matters not herein pro- 
vided the executive committee and the pastor 
are empowered to act in the best interests of 
the Church and the Kingdom. 


Results Spiritual and Financial 


This is the story of an adventure in entire 
sanctification. The law of the tithe was de- 
signed by God to produce spiritual results. 
Do we call God the owner and provider of 
all that we have and are? ‘Then there is a 
definitely prescribed form for such acknowl- 

9 


edgment. Here is the gist of it: “Come ye 
who acknowledge me as Lord, show your sin- 
cerity by paying the tithe of your income into 
my storehouse.” ‘The paying of money and 
property is the most tangible way the average 
man has of making his worship real and of 
bringing God into the realm of reality. It is 
a mistake to think of the law of the tithe pri- 
marily as a system of finance. It is the guide 
to entire sanctification. The first result of 
the tithing association was a real revival of 
religion, 

But that the law of the tithe leads also to 
the best system of finance that has ever been 
known is evident to at least one church, Dur- 
ing the Conference year ending October 1, 
1916, Geneva Church raised not merely the 
minimum needed, but it actually paid a total 
of $15,600 for all purposes, including the total 
payment of all apportionments to the benevo- 
lences, plus twenty-five per cent. And while 
the membership increased to over one thou- 
sand, three fourths of the entire amount was 
paid, either in tithes and offerings or both, by 
the members of the tithers’ association. 

Other statistics are of interest. The result 
of that first every-member canvass, a year ago, 
showed that only seven persons were contribu- 
ting one dollar or more per week. One hun- 
dred and fifty persons are now contributing 
more than that amount. An analysis of the 
giving of tithers and non-tithers during the 
first six months is as follows: The total aver- 
age Sunday offering for January for current 
expenses, and benevolences was $212, of which 
the tithers contributed $153; in February the 
average was $218, of which the tithers con- 

10 


tributed $167; in March, $215 per Sunday, 
tithers’ share, $157; in April, $195 per Sun- 
day, tithers’ share, $156; in May, $207 per 
Sunday, tithers’ share, $176; in June, $236 
per Sunday, tithers’ share, $190. Bear in mind 
that for five of these six months there were 
only 160 tithers contributing. Moreover, the 
average Sunday “loose change” plate collec- 
tion during these months was about $18. 

But the greater result is the new enthusiasm 
which has possessed the parish and impressed 
the entire community. At first it was objected 
that the people could not pay tithes and at 
the same time meet their installments on their 
pledges to the debt. Accordingly tithers were 
allowed to suspend their pledges during the 
year of experiment. Members were also al- 
lowed to draw on the contingent fund of the 
association for their dues to the church or- 
ganizations and their gifts to the Sunday 
School. It is noticeable that fewer and fewer 
take advantage of this provision. And the 
greatest gratification of all came when the 
official board a month ago inaugurated a debt- 
raising campaign, with the slogan: “Fifteen 
thousand dollars this year in addition to our 
tithe.’ * It is the natural climax of the new 


*It will be of interest as a sequel to this 
story to know that the campaign which began 
about the middle of October, 1916, with the 
slogan, “Fifteen thousand dollars this Con- 
ference year in addition to our tithe: a free- 
will offering to God, subscribed by Christmas 
Sunday,” was oversubscribed by December 1. 
Subscriptions were to be paid in three install- 
ments by September 15, 1917. At this writing, 
February 1, 1917, one third of the amount has 
been paid in. 


11 


revival of religion which began that Sunday 
morning in December, when 125 souls pledged 
their tithe at the church altar, acknowledging 
in full their dependence upon God and thus 
making the new confession of their faith. 

Of additional interest, especially to those 
with whom the payment of the tithe is the 
evidence of faith in God’s “prove Me,” is the 
following letter from a Presbyterian layman, 
who was entirely unknown to the writer: 


Oct: 19;",1916; 


Pastor Methodist Episcopal Church, 
Geneva, N. Y. 


Dear Sir: 

I recently learned your church has an $80,- 
000 debt. I don’t see how the church can 
ever pay it unless it gets help outside. I am 
willing to give $1,000 if $20,000 or more can 
be secured from sources entirely outside your 
local church, provided we can be assured that 
will enable your people to save the church. It 
would be unwise for outsiders to put funds 
in unless it would result in saving the church. 

Raising of $20,000 would cut down your 
interest $1,000 per annum, which would also 
ease the burden. 

Although a Presbyterian, I will gladly send 
draft as above as soon as I can feel it is safe 
and prudent to do so. 


At the present time (February, 1917) about 
one fifth of the $20,000 is in sight from 
sources “entirely outside” the local church. 
Where the rest will come from is not known, 
but it is confidently believed that it will come, 
and that this letter was God’s answer to the 
Geneva Tithers’ Association. Shortly after 
January 1, 1917, the Association celebrated its 


first year of existence with a campaign which 
12 


added sixty new members, making the total 
number 320. 

What then is the demand of this hour? A 
single line will express it: The recognition and 
the acknowledgment of “stewardship.” Indeed 
this is just what the Son of God was teach- 
ing when he commanded, “Seek ye first the 
Kingdom.” And there is no other way by 
which the Kingdom can come, whether it be 
in the soul of a man or in the heart of the 
pagan world. The recognition of the primacy 
of the Kingdom by Christ on earth and the 
acknowledgment of our stewardship—these 
two stahd together. Therefore, stewardship 
must be the cry of the hour. Our church 
members must clearly see and keenly feel that 
life is a stewardship, a stewardship of pos- 
sessions and personality and prayer; and that 
the payment of the tithe is nothing more or 
‘less than the proof of our sincerity, the wit- 
ness of our faith, the pledge of our allegiance, 
and the assurance of His victory. 


13 


The Stewardship Campaign 


Those who read this “Story of the Geneva 
Church” will desire to repeat the experience 
in their own Church. And they may. It is 
intended that every soul shall enjoy an “Ad- 
venture in entire sanctification.” It may be 
said, in the first place, that such an “adven- 
ture” is for those who dare. The expansion 
of character, the freedom from old trammels, 
the thrill of accomplishment, and the inspira- 
tion of the heights are all for the pioneer 
soul. These things appeal to the daring; they 
only alarm the timid. 

The Church has no call to separate a man 
from his money. To attempt it, under what- 
soever name of human betterment, or in fur- 
therance of any Financial Plan, is to commit 
violence against a righteous human instinct, 
the instinct of possession. 

But the Church has a call to set forth the 
profound and intimate relationship which ex- 
ists between a man and his money. ‘That 
relationship constitutes a trust. The terms of 
the trust already are established, and should 
be understood clearly by Christian men and 
women, and by Christian boys and girls. The 
trust itself is defined and developed in the 
Christian law of Stewardship, and this lies 
at the base of all Christian character. 

Stewardship is more than a financial plan. 
It is a life plan; the Christian Law of Life. 
Stewardship is the Gospel in action. It is 
practical religion, beginning with that which 
is in thy hand and including the treasures in 
Heaven. It is “entire sanctification” ex- 
pressed in modern terms of efficiency. Its 

14 


message is welcomed; for Stewardship is 
logical, winsome, irresistible. 

However, Stewardship is not a natural hu- 
man conception. The unaided human instinct 
will not discover it. The recognition of Stew- 
ardship marks the supremacy of the spiritual 
nature. ‘Therefore, not for the sake of the 
“Budget,” but for the sake of the “Christian,” 
the underlying principles of Stewardship must 
be taught plainly. 

Therefore, Stewardship requires a definite 
program for teaching and committal: It is 
high evangelism. We have prepared a pro- 
gram for a Stewardship Campaign. In four 
or five weeks’ time, using the regular services, 
a Church may awaken its members, increase 
their number, and solve every financial prob- 
lem. Only the leadership of the pastor is 
needed or desirable. This is a revival that 
goes deep, reaches high, extends wide and 
lasts long. There will be no reaction because 
of tired bodies and minds. The congregation 
is prepared to take the field, rather than to go 
to the hospital. It is worth trying. For full 
information, write to 

Harvey REEVES CALKINS, 
Stewardship Secretary, 

The Commission on Finance, 
740 Rush Street, Chicago. 


NoreE—The Stewardship Department of the 
Commission on Finance is now known as The 
Christian Stewardship League. Mr. Calkins is 
its General Secretary. : 


15 


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